The Divine Shifter
by amyanarchy
Summary: Sam, Dean and Jill Winchester are on a case that involves ordinary, loving guys "offing" their significant others, and then themselves. Looks like there is a shape shifter in town. A smart shifter that has been killing for a long time.
1. Chapter 1 - The Babe Motel

Jill leaned back against the windshield of her brother's car. The 67 Chevy Impala could use a wash she thought, as her blue jeans now held a thin layer of dust and dirt from lying on the hood. What the hell could be taking them so long? She enjoyed working jobs with her brothers, but this was the boring part. Waiting around while they interviewed the "clients." She was too young to pass off as a Fed.

Suddenly there was a quick gust of wind from behind her and she slid off the hood to look around. "Castiel." The angel was standing just behind her next to the car, appearing out of thin air as he often did. "Hello Jillian." The angel's blue eyes shone so intensely that Jill often wondered whether it was because he was Heavenly, or maybe his vessel was simply bright eyed. He began to ask her how she was but the look on her face stopped him. She was staring at his trench coat, which until now had usually been dirty and tan colored. Now it was soaked in blood.

"Castiel what happened?" She stepped toward him and reached out, but dropped her hands quickly. The angel often gave the impression that he didn't like to be touched, and Jill assumed this time would be no different. The blood however did not appear to be his own. "Angels." He replied. "The war in heaven is still raging, though I expect that will not last much longer."

He walked past her towards the front of the car and leaned back against the grill. He seemed troubled, although Jill always found it hard to place the look on Castiel's frequently emotionless face. She sat next to him and opened her mouth to speak. "Where are Sam and Dean?" Castiel interrupted.  
"House across the road." Jill replied gesturing to her right. "Working a case, getting the facts, you know." Castiel nodded and looked back down at his hands. He didn't often hang around like this unless it was important, especially when he had a civil war in heaven to worry about. Again Jill peered at him out of the corner of her eye and tried to read his face. All she could really see was how blue his eyes were. Everything else was a mystery. "How'd you find us?" She asked. Her brothers and her were supposed to be hidden from all angels, courtesy of some Enochian carvings on each of their ribcages, Castiel's way of protecting them. "I called Dean a moment ago."

"Hey, Cas!" The angel and Jill turned to see the brothers coming down the end of Mrs. Wu's driveway. Dean, the older brother, had nicknamed the angel 'Cas' almost immediately after meeting him. "Hello Dean. Sam." Castiel nodded toward the younger brother who nodded back as he stripped his jacket off and tossed it through the window of the impala into the front seat. "Can we continue this on the way back to the motel? I don't need Mrs. Wu getting suspicious and calling the real cops." Sam said with annoyance, violently loosening his tie. Jill couldn't help but grin. She thought she knew why he might be annoyed. "It's a shifter right? Was I right?"  
"In the car." He replied. She looked over at Dean who winked back and jumped in the Impala. "Cas you comin' with?" Dean leaned out the window at the angel who hadn't jumped up to hop in the car with the rest of them. He was staring straight up at the clouds, this time a definite strained look on his face. "Perhaps I will meet you later." And he was gone.

Jill was sprawled out in the back, one leg up and stretched along the seat, watching Sam in the side view mirror as the impala sped along the highway. "So, a shifter huh." She tried not to sound too smug. She saw Sam roll his eyes in the mirror and smirked. "Yeah, looks like a good old fashioned shape shifter to us." Dean answered. "Good call Jay." Dean nicknamed everyone. Cas, Sammy, Jay. "Jay's a boys name." Jill replied.  
"Nope, it's a letter." Dean said sarcastically. "Let's ask college boy over here."  
"Okay how'd you know it was a shape shifter?" Sam turned around in his seat getting them back on track. "We've been in town less than 24 hours and you just go, 'It's def' a shifter guys, for reals.'"  
"I don't sound like that! I don't say stupid shit like 'for reals,' when have I ever…"  
"Okay ladies," Dean interrupted. "That's enough."

They pulled into the motel parking lot twenty minutes later and Jill hopped out before they came to a full stop. "Yo." Dean called. She turned and he handed her a credit card through the window. "One room, two doubles, you know the drill." Jill looked down at the name on the card. D. Hasselhoff. She rolled her eyes. "Okay but you two are sharing tonight." She put the card in her pocket and sighed, dreading the thought that she might have to explain why her parents named her D. Hasselhoff.

She strolled across the parking lot towards the office. The motel was a bit run down but they'd seen worse. It had a certain charm to it, well at least the outside did. Some vines weaved their way up walls and around cylinders and some birds were chirping in a big tree overlooking the parking lot. She shaded her eyes from the sun as she peered up into the tree in search for the birds. A bell jingled when she pulled the door open and a middle-aged man behind the counter looked up from a magazine. "Hi, one room please. 3 nights, two double beds if you can."  
"Sure thing honey." He looked out the window at where Sam and Dean had parked the impala and looked back at Jill suspiciously. "You with them?"  
"Oh, yes." She replied and gave him what she hoped was an innocent smile. "Do you take credit?" The man smiled back at Jill and took her card. She hoped he didn't say anything about the name, why couldn't Dean have handed her one of the other ones. One that was less suspicious, like Eastwood or Tarrantino. The man smirked as he handed the card back. "Don't get many Hasselhoffs through here." Jill's stomach dropped.  
"Oh yeah." She laughed. "No relation." He laughed with her and handed her a key with a number 8 on it. "Thanks." She walked outside back towards the car. "Room 8." She told her brothers.

It was a fair sized room, had the two double beds she requested, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen type area. They had stayed in worse motels. "Nice digs." Dean said and threw his bag on the bed nearest the door. He always took the bed near the door, unless it was his and Jill's turn to share, then Sammy took the bed by the door. Jill assumed this was her big brothers' way of keeping her a little further away from possible harm. She was always bugging for a room of her own, but often the things they were hunting decided to hunt them back and it made her brothers nervous. "By the way," She quipped, "the desk clerk, total Bates."  
"Did you say Babe?" Dean hopped on the bed and leaned against the headrest pulling his feet up. He peeked over at the side table that held a small quarter operated machine and perked up. "Score! Get his number?"  
"No I did not say babe I said Bates, like Norman Bates, psych- never mind."

Sam was unpacking his bag at the table next to the window and setting up his laptop. "Mrs. Wu had some very interesting things to say about her neighbor that's for sure." He started explaining as he pulled some books out of his bag. Jill sat down across from him. "Oh yeah? Like the fact that he can pull his skin off and look like Dicaprio underneath if he were so inclined?"  
"HA" came from the bed behind them.  
"What she said was that the Teller's were a normal couple. They had been married for a year and never had any problems. They were quiet, cheerful, and Christopher always helped Mrs. Wu shovel her driveway when it snowed."  
"Awww!" Dean squealed as he rustled around in his pocket searching for spare change.  
"Yeah." Sam continued. "Until a week ago when Mrs. Wu said hello to Chris one morning on his way out and he ignored her. Really out of character for the guy. Then she hadn't seen Michelle for a few days which is when she went over to check on her and found Mrs. Teller dead in the master bedroom. Really gruesome too."

"Yeah that's what the paper said, really gruesome death." Jill pulled the newspaper clipping out of her pocket and unfolded it. The headline read Gruesome Murder was Work of a True Monster. Oh they had no idea. A rumble came from the bed behind them and Sam and Jill turned to see the bed shaking underneath Dean who had his arms folded behind his head and his eyes shut, a delightful little smile on his face.

Jill wandered outside to get a pop from the machine and to leave her eldest brother to his massage or, whatever. Sam followed her out and leaned against the machine. He was nearly two feet taller than her and he hovered over her with a heavy feeling in the air. Jill tried focusing on the soda choices. "Are you brooding?" She finally asked and selected a 7up. He sighed and she straightened up. "Jill, all we had was a nasty death and a suspicious old woman. No witnesses. We haven't even investigated the house yet. How did you kn-." He stopped and narrowed his eyes at Jill who looked sideways, popped the tab on her drink and made to sidestep around him. "Oh no, Jill, you didn't" He put his hand out stopping her in her tracks.  
"What?" She tried to sound truly confused but her brother was no dummy. He had gone to Stamford after all. Sam narrowed his eyes further and Jill's stomach knotted up. "Allright, I'll explain inside." She caved.

When they re-entered room 8 Dean was sitting back on his knees scrounging his pockets for more quarters. "No, no! Nuh-uh! Enough is enough its getting bad!" Jill smacked her brother. "Jesus Jay!" Dean rubbed his arm and looked over at Sam. "Nope. I'm not enabling you either." He said. "As a matter of fact from now on it will be a prerequisite that whatever motel we stay at NOT have one of those things." He motioned towards the machine that violently vibrated the bed whenever coins were inserted.

Jill smirked and walked over to the next bed were she had dropped her bag and unzipped it to root around inside. She pulled out a little jar and tossed it over to Sam. "Ugh! You did!" He screwed his face up at the contents of the jar.  
"What is it?" Dean asked and Sam threw the jar on the bed.  
"It ain't strawberry jam."  
Dean peered through the glass for a moment at the detached 'human' ear inside and then set it on the table. He glared over at Jill. "Where did you get that?"  
She sat down at the table. "The Tellers' backyard. It was right outside their door."

Both of her brothers glared at her. "You were supposed to be waiting at the car." Sam stated.  
"I know but God how long does it take to interview a bloody 90 year old woman when she didn't even see anything!" Jill exclaimed.  
"She made us tea!" Dean shouted back. "And-."  
"Look I only had a quick look around the perimeter, I didn't go inside, it was broad daylight and you were both less than 50 feet away, I don't see the problem. I mean Jesus Christ I'VE BEEN SALTING AND BURNING CORPSES SINCE I WAS EIGHT!"

There was a banging on the wall from the room next door that silenced the three of them. "Don't wake the neighbors." Dean replied and smirked. "It was a good find." He added and exchanged a look with Sam. Sam breathed in heavily and added "Yes it was, just… let us know next time. In case some monster decides to stick around."


	2. Chapter 2 - High 5

Jill loved having the bed to herself. She would stretch out to almost unnatural lengths and sleep quite contently. They took turns sharing but sometimes one of them would resort to the floor or even sleep in the car. Jill didn't mind sleeping in the car but most motel owners would get right pissed off about it thinking he was being ripped off. Of course it didn't really matter whether one of them slept in the car or shared a bed in their room, they were still usually ripping the guy off. Hunters don't exactly get a pension with benefits, or any salary for that matter. So they'd have to hustle pool here, run credit card scams there, whatever they needed to do. Hence the Hasslehoff name they were staying under this time.

_Jill walked along the long wooden dock and stared down at her reflection in the cool water below. She liked how her thick dark hair wrapped around her neck and hung down beside her face. In the rippled water it looked almost pretty. She smiled at herself then sat down and pulled off her shoes and socks. She rolled her jeans up to just below the knee and dunked both feet in the water. If felt really good to have them in the cool lake while the warm sun shone on her face. She closed one eye against the bright sun and peeked through the other half opened eye up at the perfectly blue sky. This was the life. She looked across the lake that was surrounded by dark green forest. Not a soul in sight, yet teeming with life. She decided to take a dip. She didn't get to go swimming very often. She stood up and pulled her clothes off, there was a beautiful breeze but it wasn't at all cold. Taking a few steps back first, she ran to the edge of the dock pushed off and dove with her hands out in front of her, head first into the ripples. She went down, down and down. The light shone through the water, breaking up around her and bouncing off her skin. She wasn't holding her breath, she wasn't even breathing. It was like she was just part of the water, her hair and extremities reaching out from her body and dancing slowly with the ripples._

_She looked all around and saw nothing but water, darker in the distance. When she looked down however she saw the light bouncing off of something bright. She strained to see what it was, debated whether or not to kick out and swim further down, but before she could do so the bright spot became two, and began rising towards her. It only took a moment to realize they were a set of eyes and another moment to see the face and body they belonged too. Floating up towards her was Michelle Teller, the beautiful woman whose picture she had viewed in her newspaper clipping. Only now she wasn't beautiful. Her face was extremely pale, her throat had not one but multiple slits across it courtesy of her murderer. Her body was covered in blood, bright red blood that was spreading out into the surrounding water, which was darkening more as she got closer. Jill stayed in place in the water staring down in horror as the body approached her from below, a strained look on its face as it reached forward for her. Jill could not help herself, she reached her own arms downwards to accept her, but that was when she felt a different set of arms under her shoulders pulling her upwards towards the surface of the lake. Above the surface she took a deep breath of air and spun around to look into the eyes of her friend Castiel. He was in the water next to her. "Hello Jill. I'm sorry for interrupting your dream but I needed to talk to you. Where are you?" "Uh, Tacoma Motel. Room_ 8."

Jill's eyes snapped open and she cried out in surprise at Castiel who was hovering over her. "Cas! What are you doing here?" She looked around and saw Sam wake up at the sound and Dean, continue to snore. She rolled her eyes. Cas remained hovered looking down at Jill. "Um Cas. Can I get up?"

"Oh. Yes. My apologies." Castiel backed away and Jill sat up rubbing her eyes. "I am also sorry for interrupting your dream, but you weren't answering your phone."

"It's okay it was more of a nightmare." Jill grabbed her cell from the desk next to the bed. "I don't have any missed calls." Castiel moved to the window and looked outside, ignoring the statement. "A man's body was found late last night in the park not far from the Teller residence. I believe it is Christopher Teller." He stated. Sam sat up straight. "Really? Dean wake up!" He chucked a pillow at his brother who grunted and rolled over.

"What!"

"Cas has a lead on our case." Jill replied. Leaping out of bed. Dean started stretching.

"No Dean its okay, I'll take Jill to the lab." Said Sam.

"YES!" Jill pumped her fist in the air and skipped to the bathroom to get ready. Dean gave Sam a questioning look.

"She's 20 dude, nobody's going to believe she's a fed."

"I'm 21 asshole." Jill yelled through the closed door.

"She's a student from the university and I'm training her?" Sam offered. Dean hummed. He looked sideways at Sam.

"I get to sleep?"

Sam sighed. "Yes."

"Yeah sure, take her!" Dean concluded and pushed his face back into the pillow.

Castiel looked awkwardly around the room. "May I come to?" Sam and Dean exchanged looks of surprise. Jill came out of the bathroom having quickly brushed her teeth and hair. "Yes of course you can come Cas." She smiled. She always preferred spending time with other people besides her brothers. Even if Castiel wasn't technically a person. "Oh screw this I'm not going to miss this." Said Dean throwing off the covers.

The three Winchesters and angel stepped out of the Impala in the parking lot of the hospital. Sam and Dean had their signature black suits and really did look the part. Maybe a little young for federal agents but they were pretty convincing. Castiel was wearing his regular trench coat. Jill had on a buttoned white shirt and black slacks. She was excited to finally get to participate. She had burned Wendigos, exercised demons, beheaded vamps and hunted many other supernatural creatures with her brothers. Even saved their asses once or twice. This was different; it was like a coming of age thing for her. Some kids were going to their prom or to college; Jill was interviewing doctors in order to determine what kind of creature had killed their patients. Jill followed her brothers into the building. Dean went to the desk to charm the receptionist and Sam whispered to her and Castiel some instructions. Follow their lead and pretend to look like you belong there, easy enough. A doctor greeted them at the desk a few moments later. Sam and Dean flashed their fake FBI badges at the doc and introduced themselves. "Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI. Our associates." Dean nodded in their direction. Castiel nodded and gave the man a blank look. Jill smiled and nodded.

"Associates?" The doctor looked back at Dean, unconvinced.

"Students from the university. Undergoing some training. Will that be a problem?" Sam stepped forward, towering over the doctor. Jill saw him swallow.

"Oh, no. Not a problem. This way." Dean turned and winked at Cas and Jill, Jill grinned back and followed eagerly. "So what interest does the FBI have in a murder suicide?" The doctor asked, leading them down the hall.

"Murder suicide?" Sam repeated.

"Well yeah." The doctor continued. "The guy kills his wife, then is found a couple nights later in the park, self inflicted gun shot wound to the temporal lobe. That'll do it."

"Self inflicted huh." Jill could hear Dean's eyes roll. "Is that your medical opinion or your personal opinion?" The doctor stopped at the mortuary door.

"Well, my medical opinion. But it makes sense too-"

"Well we appreciate your medical opinion doctor but why don't you leave the theories to the professionals."

The doctor blushed. "Yes sir. Well, um, the body is just through here sir."

"Thank you. We can take it from here." Dean pushed past him into the room, Sam, Cas and Jill followed.

"You know Dean, we could have asked him some more questions." Sam said.

"He didn't know anything."

Now Jill rolled her eyes. "Yeah I'm sure the doctor didn't have a clue about anything regarding the body we are about to-"

"I could have left you at the Bates Motel!" Dean reminded. Jill shut up and glared at him. Sam walked over to the table where Christopher Teller's body lay and folded back the sheet covering his head. "Definitely a gun shot. But I couldn't tell you whether or not it was self-inflicted. Should have asked the doc how he could tell." Sam shot Dean an annoyed glance, which Dean ignored. "The guy might have panicked after seeing his own wanted posters around town. Thought there was no other way out."

"Hell no!" Jill added. "The shifter probably killed him and made it look like a suicide, knowing that when his body was found they would close the case."

"But there's no way to know that for sure until we find the shifter. This is a small town but it could be anywhere. Hell, it could have left town." Dean was frustrated. They were all getting frustrated. Castiel walked over to the body and placed a hand on its chest. After a couple seconds Dean cleared his throat and said "um, Cas?" Castiel drew his hand back. "This man did not kill himself. His soul was pure and was transferred to heaven upon his death."

"So the shifter got him?" Jill asked.

"Yes Jill, the shifter probably got him. Way to ruin the moment." Dean strolled towards the door and Sam unfolded the sheet back over Christopher Teller's head. "Guess we're done here, thanks Cas."

"It is not a problem." Castiel responded. Sam and Dean stopped to have a quick word with the doctor before they left. Jill continued into the parking lot, Cas following behind her, to wait at the Impala. She leaned against the back door and slipped a ponytail off her wrist to chuck her hair up and out of the way. Cas stopped in front of her, staring. He often stared at Jill, at her brothers too. Actually the few angels she had met had staring problems also. Probably didn't realize it was slightly uncomfortable. "So Cas." She interrupted the awkwardness. "Any idea where this shifter is? I mean, can you work your mojo or something and locate him?" Castiel sighed. "No I cannot work my mojo and find the shifter for you, I am sorry. But I'm sure the three of you will find him."

Jill smiled. "Well good job in there anyway." She held her hand up for a high five, which Castiel considered for a moment before also reaching up and pulling her hand down to hang by their waists, without letting go. Her smile turned into a sideways puzzled look, but Castiel grinned back and held her hand tightly. "Hmm, don't know what a high five is?" She smirked slightly. Cas frowned a little but Jill gave him an encouraging squeeze, after all he had done nothing wrong.

"AWWWW!" Dean and Sam had strolled up behind them, Dean grinning and Sam smiling. Jill immediately withdrew her hand and blushed, "Piss off." Castiel turned around confused. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing Cas, there is nothing wrong about the way the two of you feel." Dean chuckled and circled to the driver's side of the car. "You coming with?" Cas gave Jill a questioning look and answered, "No, I have a matter in Heaven to attend to. Perhaps I will catch up with you later." And he was gone. Jill leaned forward from the backseat to turn the music up. She didn't want to hear her brother's teasing, but luckily they didn't bother anyway. They were discussing possible "shifter dens" and where they might find their monster's hide out. Jill tried to contribute but instead thought back to Castiel and his adorable awkwardness. Of course, how would an angel know what a high five is? I mean, they don't exactly strut around heaven slapping hands every time a soul is saved, do they? It's not like, _Hey Cas… way to grip that soul tight and raise it from perdition, put 'er there!_ She smirked to herself and looked up into the mirror where Dean was looking right back with an eyebrow raised. "Huh, sorry?" She asked giving her head a shake.

"Earth to Jill." Dean answered.

"We were thinking about going to the park next. The one Christopher Teller's body was found in." Sam began. "Ask around, see if anybody saw anything yesterday or last night."

"Okay. You two can talk to parents and I can ask any kids around if they saw anything weird. I doubt anything happened during the day but you never know."

"Good plan. But first, we get some pie."


	3. Chapter 3 - i heart

They stopped at a small diner in town called Mrs. Hudson's Café. It was a nice little place, and busy which meant the food wasn't bad. They grabbed a booth in the corner next to the window. "Hi there, what can I get you fellas today?" A bouncy, blonde waitress smiled widely and chewed on her gum. Jill grimaced. _Fellas?_

"Well hello there." Dean started. "How are you doing?" Jill and Sam exchanged looks.

The blonde grinned even wider. "Fine and how are you doing?"

"Oh I'm just fine." Dean smiled. Jill gave him a kick under the table and his eye twitched. "I'd love a bacon cheeseburger and a pepsi." She scribbled his order down in what Jill was sure was big loopy lettering with little hearts in place of the dots above her _i's_. "And for you handsome?" She asked Sam.

He smiled politely. "I'll have a greek salad please, and water is fine."

She smiled and turned to Jill. "Salad for you too?" She smiled, but not as widely at Jill.

"No I'll have a huge plate of poutine." Jill pushed her menu across the table. "And 7up."

"Coming right up!" The waitress bounced away and Dean turned in his seat to watch.

"Ugh that was horrifying. Kill me if I ever act like that." Jill put her finger in her throat and turned to look out the window. Sam smirked and pulled out his laptop. Dean skimmed the desert menu for pie flavors and Jill leaned over to see what Sam was researching. He was on the local newspaper's website. The waitress came back with their food in a flash. "Anything else while I'm here?" She sang.

"Well it'd be mighty kind of you if ya warmed up a couple slices of this famous apple pie I've been hearing about." Dean grinned.

"Sure thing darlin'!" And she bounced away again.

"Could you be more disgusting?" Jill asked, digging into her fries.

"Hey, the ladies don't complain as much as you do." He answered, sending the waitress a wink from across the room.

"I hope your apple pie is worth it."

"Worth what?" He snapped.

"Herp-"

"Guys check this out." Sam interrupted, turning his laptop sideways so they could see. "There was another strange death almost a year ago. This time a couple who were passing through town."

"Murder suicide?" Dean asked through a mouthful of burger.

"Yep. And the year before that, a guy killed his girlfriend then hung himself." Jill pulled the computer closer. Sam grimaced as it got within cheese and gravy distance. "The reporter interviewed a friend of the guy. She said she couldn't believe he would ever do anything like this. The nicest guy, blah blah, very out of character, blah blah. Hmm." She pushed the laptop back.

"So it looks like the shifter's been in town for a while." Dean concluded. The waitress interrupted them with three plates of pie and a fresh layer of lipstick. "Thanks doll." Dean winked. She bounced away again. "Lovely." Jill snorted.

"Very." Dean unrolled his napkin to reveal "Nicki's" phone number scribbled inside. Nicki with little hearts above her_ i's_.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Lead

They pulled into the park half an hour after lunch. "Okay we should separate. Jill, try not to look like a creeper while talking to these people's kids." Jill shot Dean a look.

"We'll ask around, see if any of the parents were here yesterday." Sam added. They still had their suits on and were going to play the fed roles again, but Jill had quickly changed into jeans and a tee, more inconspicuous. People do get very antsy about their kids talking to strangers. She watched her brothers head off toward the picnic tables and turned to scour the park. She saw a boy who looked about 8 years old spinning in a swing, so she set off towards the swing set. She sat down next to the boy. "Hi." She said. He peered out of the corner of his eye but didn't turn his head. "I see they still stress the don't talk to strangers thing in school, that's good." She muttered. He shuffled his feet in the sand. "Hey, bet I can go way higher than you." Jill suggested. His eyes opened a bit wider. "Unless," she began pumping her legs, "you're chicken?"

The kid spun in his swing. "Nuh-uh!" He yelled.

"Well then lets see what you've got!" _Well that did it_, she thought. He started leaning and kicking furiously and Jill hurried to speed up to him. "Wow you are good!" She raised her voice over the creaking of the swings.

"Yeah I know!" The little boy yelled back.

"Yeah, you can go way higher than I can!" Jill started slowing down until she came to a stop and twirled the chains around above her head so that the swing would spin with her in the seat when she released it. _Okay, you are having too much fun_, she thought to herself. She saw the boy slowing down beside her. "My name is Jill." She tried.

The boy shifted in his seat a little. "I'm Sean." He replied a little nervously, but looked up and returned Jill's smile. Jill took a deep breath, looking around for any anxious parents wondering who their son was talking to.

"Do you come to the park often Sean?" _Yeah that didn't sound creepy at all…_

"Yeah sometimes." Sean said, kicking a rock across the sand. "Yesterday too."

Jill's heart sped up. "Yesterday, really?"

"Yep!" Sean jumped up and took off towards the monkey bars. Jill hopped off her swing and followed, looking around for her brothers. They were talking to a woman next to the slide. Sean had climbed up on the bars in record speed and was hanging upside down beneath them from his legs. "NO HANDS!" He screeched.

"That's so awesome!" Jill said excitedly. "So, when you were here yesterday-"

"Come up!" Sean interrupted.

"Oh." Jill grabbed the bars and slowly hauled herself up with her arms. _I've got to lay off the peanut butter cups_. She sat on top of the bars. "So when you were here yesterday, were there a lot of other people here?"

Sean pulled himself through the bars to sit next to her. "Not really." Jill reached into her pocket and pulled out a newspaper clipping with Christopher Teller's picture on it, the man who was suspected of killing his wife and himself, and the one the Winchesters suspected the shifter was impersonating.

"Did you see this guy here yesterday?" She asked, folding the paper so the article was hidden.

Sean snatched it and peered at the picture thoughtfully. "I think maybe, he went into the woods." He pointed towards the opposite end of the park where there was a dense looking forest.

"Are you sure?" Jill asked, taking the paper back. Sean slipped backwards and dangled from the bars with his legs and Jill jumped down next to him.

"Yep!" He exclaimed. "Because I wanted to go exploring but mom said I couldn't go in the woods." He frowned remembering the refusal.

"Sean!"

Jill turned and saw a woman wandering over towards them.

"Gotta go, bye!" Sean flipped off the bars and hopped away. Jill saw the woman give her an odd look over her shoulder and grab her son's hand, probably going to give him a lecture on talking to strangers on the way home. Jill turned and peered in the direction of the woods. She heard Sam's overbearing voice in her head, _"Let us know next time in case some monster decides to stick around."_ She looked where she last saw her brothers at the slide. Dean was still talking to the woman, who had taken her hair out of her ponytail and was laughing at something he had said. Jill figured it probably wasn't that funny. Sam was talking to a couple near the picnic tables. She looked back at the woods. _Oh what the hell_. And she started towards them.


	5. Chapter 5 - Stuck!

"Okay thank you for your time." Sam closed his notepad and got up from the picnic table. Nobody seemed to remember seeing Christopher Teller at the park the other day. Walking towards Dean he turned and scanned the park for his sister, but she wasn't in sight. An annoying giggle interrupted him.

"Oh really? An Aquarius? I'm an Aquarius too."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sorry to interrupt, but we should get going." Sam smiled at the woman Dean had wasted half an hour talking to, probably not at all about the case. The woman glared at him.

"Well you have my card, don't be afraid to give us a call if you hear anything." Dean gave her a wink.

"And you have my number!" She declared as they started towards the Impala. "Call me!"

Once they were out of earshot Sam asked, "Did you even show her a picture of the guy?"

"Mind your business." Dean answered, then changed the subject. "Where has our lovely, level-headed sister got too?"

Sam looked around again. He expected Jill to be waiting at the car, which she wasn't. He frowned and took his phone out of his pocket.

Jill was on her belly, crawling army style under a tree that had snapped and fallen over. The branches were huge and too think to climb over, and she couldn't go around it because of the poison ivy. _Well this was a great idea. _She thought. Then her phone started buzzing. "Perfect!" She cried. She rolled over under the log on to her back and fished out her cell. Sam Winchester calling. "What!"

"Where are you?"

"Woods." Jill grunted.

"What!"

Jill balanced her phone next to her ear with her shoulder and used her hands to reach up and grip the log. She pulled herself to the other side. "I said-"

"I heard what you said, where did you go in? I don't see a path."

"There isn't one. Well it's grown over and really dense so don't bother."

Sam sighed. Jill heard Dean's sarcastic voice, "this is no time for flower picking Jay."

As her brothers bickered she rolled her eyes and could make out an object in the grass beside her. She rolled back onto her stomach and shuffled over a little to get a better look. She nearly threw up when she realized what it was. "ARGH!"

"What? What! Jill what is it?"

"Puke inducing vile!" She shuffled back in the opposite direction. "Looks like the shifter has shifted again. There's a meat suit abandoned in the woods. Oh its nasty."

Sam was laughing and filling Dean in on the other end, when she heard a twig snap behind her. Jill froze. She pulled the phone away from her ear to listen. Nothing.

She tried to look over her shoulder but the tree was in the way. _Awesome._

"Is that you guys?"

Before Sam could answer she heard another twig snap, louder and closer. _Sooo awesome._ She thought to herself. _Hopefully it's just a bear, or_ _pack of wolves, or-_

"OH, F-" Jill let out a scream as something very strong grabbed her ankles and pulled her backwards underneath the log. She kicked and tried to grab at the tree helplessly, pulling some bark away as she was dragged along on her stomach. She came to an abrupt halt and rolled very quickly onto her back while pulling a silver knife from the inside of her boot and brandishing it above her from the ground. "Back, shifter freak!" She hollered.

Castiel stared down at her, head slightly tilted to the side. "Jill." He said calmly. "Are you okay?"

"Oh my God!" Jill hopped up and brushed the dirt from her legs. Castiel frowned. "Sorry Cas, but Jesus!" The frown remained.

"Sorry. You scared the crap out of me, what are you doing?"

"You appeared to be in need of assistance. Your brothers are looking for you and you were stuck under a tree."

"I'm not stuck!"

"No, you are free now."

"I WASN'T stuck!"

"JILL!" Cries were coming from not far away. Seconds later Sam and Dean had burst through the brush with their weapons drawn. "Oh, hey Cas." Dean holstered his gun.

"You screamed?" Sam asked rushing to Jill's side.

"No, maybe yelled a little, I was surprised."

"You screamed. Could hear it from the edge of the woods." Dean teased.

Jill rolled her eyes.

"She was stuck under this tree." Cas explained.

Jill threw her hands in the air in annoyance.

"So where is this puke inducing vile?" Dean asked looking around.

"Other side of the log that I was NOT stuck under." Jill glared at Cas.

"Why didn't you just go around?" Dean asked, and started pulling at the leaves in the way.

Jill smirked and after a moment answered, "Because I wanted to avoid the poison ivy."

Dean drew his hands back and shot Jill a death look. Sam walked over to the tree and peered over it. He was tall so he could look down into the grass on the other side. "Oh yeah. The shifter shed its skin here. And looks like it continued in that direction. Wonder what's through there."

"The motel you are staying at." Cas answered.

They all looked at him. "Really?" Dean asked. "Great. Coincidence, I hope."

Instead of trucking through the rest of the woods, they went through the park to take the Impala back to the motel. Cas joined them in the car, which Jill kind of liked. She found it interesting that he would always gaze out the window when they weren't talking, taking in the scenery. Being an angel for millions of years, Jill figured he'd have already seen it all.

They pulled into the motel parking lot and filed out of the car. Jill noticed the motel manager peering curiously out the window at the four of them.

"I better go introduce Cas to Bates." She said.

"Why?" Dean asked, looking over at the office.

"Because he is giving us weird looks, what if he calls the cops?"

"Whatever." Dean said and unlocked their room. He and Sam went inside and Jill led Cas towards the office. The manager was no longer looking out the window. They stepped into the office, the bell above the door jingling as it opened and closed.

The manager came out from the back room and smiled. "Hasselhoff!"

Jill smiled back. "Yeah! Just thought I'd introduce you to, um, my cousin. Cas." The man turned to Cas and gave a small nod before offering his hand out for Castiel to shake. Cas considered it a moment, looked towards Jill, then slapped the man's hand as a low 5. Jill had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"I hope it's okay if he stays with us." Jill tried her best to look sweet.

The man placed his hands on the desk and looked Cas up and down. "Well, four people in that one room is a bit crowded. Are you sure you wouldn't like another room?" He asked.

Jill frowned.

"We have plenty available, I can even discount it for you."

Jill considered the offer. Not the discount, it didn't matter since they weren't technically paying for the room anyway, but the thought of a room to herself was enticing. "You know, that would be lovely of you!"

The man grinned and grabbed another key from the wall behind him. "It's no trouble at all my dear!"

Jill smiled and nudged Cas, who was definitely not smiling. The man offered the room key to Jill but Cas snatched it from him instead. They stepped out of the office and Jill saw the man glaring at them as they left. She took the key from Cas. "Snatchy! What was that about?"

Castiel looked over his shoulder at the office. "He is a very odd man." He stated.

"He probably thinks the same thing about you. Cas Hasselhoff." She burst out laughing and Cas followed her, with a confused look on his face, to her brothers' room.


End file.
